[Charley]

A r i k,

Oh, through the wilderness, You and I we're walking through the emptiness
Oh, my heart is a mess, Is it the only defense against the wilderness?

actions - “speech” - thoughts

He hadn't slept well since he first stepped onto that island. That first day, after rescuing Adolph with the others, he had a hard time hanging around Mercury. He didn't know how closely he was supposed to follow her, and what the cat meant exactly. He didn't want to make the queen uncomfortable if he was hanging around her like a shadow. And she was constantly surrounded by the others and he would have rather... not be around so many of the others at once.

She was capable and surrounded by the pack, she didn't really need protection per se. While she was here at the castle he didn't see a reason to stay too close to her like a body guard. He wasn't much of a guard, not like Kodiak or Kyra.

That night was fitful. Even after the long journey he couldn't shut down his brain about the island and the oracle and what she said. The next day he busied himself with fishing as close to the isle as he could while the border patrol had their mission. He wanted desperately to catch sight of the foxes again, or the cat but the isle was almost always completely surrounded by mist or if the mist lifted it just looked so solemn and alone. Hiding its secrets.

Mercury was just fine on her perch with the elders, he didn't have any real reason to be at that meeting. So he fished... sort of. He wasn't great at it. By the end of the day though, when he finally grew tired of spying on the island, he figured out a good way to maybe snag a good one tomorrow. He came out with soggy pads and empty pawed.

That night he was sore, the ache in his legs from when he tried to stand in the shallows kept him up and a nagging feeling wasn't helping. He slept fitfully again, half dreams of a large sickle moon, glowing eyes, the moon then shifting through its phases twice and half way to its third, a scene where he was running through the cursed glowing caves of their old territory, frantically searching... for something... He found a large body of water in the glowing caves... He dove into the still black waters and found himself surrounded by stars... floating... above a sleeping glowing white wolf curled over on its side. Surrounded by a large growing black mass rising to consume him with both fire and water blazing and pouring from its eyes...

He woke with a start and gasped as he stood quickly in his den. The images started to fade but he couldn't shake the feeling of... it wasn't fear... no it was more... more... like awe. More like "go" again. He looked outside and it was pitch black night. He had to tell her, it couldn't be a coincidence. He didn't usually dream... at all... What was this about completing her eclipse anyway? He had to know her original prophesy.

Arik shook his head before padding out of his den and looking around. It seemed no one else was up. Probably too tired from their mission and the journey still. He paused at the incline to her den, she should really rest, he shouldn't bother her.

The feeling of "Go" came over him again and he felt his legs moving up to her patio and he peered in.

"A-are you--- are you awake?" He loudly whispered into her den, "I- I don't mean to bother you." She must have had a long day with the elders and coordinating settlement efforts and the patrol report... And the island... She was probably dead asleep, it was the middle of the night.

ooc @Mercury

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes / lyrics © One Foot by Walk The Moon

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

It had been a busy first few days.  Truth be told, Mercury would have much rather have led the Border Mission than meet with the Star Council.  Sitting on her haunches and sending others to do the exploring was not something she, who had been called 'The Brave Princess of Nardir' stomached easily.  Mercury preferred the clean, black and white of a military life. Even the forced routine of life in the village had suited her easily enough.  But politics?  Politics was not a dance Mercury enjoyed.  But there was no longer someone else sitting upon the throne, ready to take the reins while she dashed off into the wilderness.  No... as queen, she was forced to watch from the Castle, while her knights took her place.  How disappointing it all was.

At last the day was through, her appointments and attentions were at an end, and she slipped away from the pack into the space she had claimed as her own.  Inside, it was sparse.  A few furs draped over a bed of long, dried grasses.  A set of packs. A basket of food, and a few pouches of herbs.  A gourd of water.  All the very basics of life, but none of the nick-knacks.  Mercury had not had time to collect anything new, and anything she had once owned had been lost over time.  She collapsed onto the pelts with an unladylike flop, exhaling with a 'foof!' as she lay completely flat on her belly, her four legs sticking out like a flattened starfish.  Then she rolled over, staring up at the ceiling, her paws crossed just below the scar on her chest.

"A-are you--- are you awake? I- I don't mean to bother you."

Mercury's eyes flew open.  She was no longer laying on her back, but on her side, her legs outstretched, as though she had been caught in the mid-stride of a sprint.  Her head jerked up, and it took her a moment to focus, to realize that the voice had been outside, and someone was at her door.  Her heart began to gallop, repeating it's bolting session from when Kodiak had landed in the midst of her council meeting. Her nostrils flared, but as she inhaled, she relaxed, recognizing the scent.  She took a deep breath and released it, then answered.

"Arik?" She asked, moving towards the opening. "What is it?"

She blinked sleepily up at him, then looked over his shoulder to where the moon hung high in the sky.  It was late. Her ruff was tousled around her head in a haphazard bedhead style. She lifted a paw, trying to rub some of the sleeping sand from her tear duct, oblivious to her disheveled state.  She'd never had to look prim in the middle of the night.  Kodiak and the team had certainly never batted an eye over it.  But then, she'd been a dog then.  Were queens supposed to have bedhead? With eyes dilated against the gloom, and her normally fierce expression softened by the slightly slack quality of drowsiness, she hardly resembled a Warrior Queen. She looked almost... fluffy.

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

Oh, through the wilderness, You and I we're walking through the emptiness
Oh, my heart is a mess, Is it the only defense against the wilderness?

actions - “speech” - thoughts

Out of the gloom of the den came the disheveled sleepy figure of who he knew to be the Queen of Nardir. The soft moon glow illuminated her teal eyes as she groggily looked up at him. Her features where much more gentle in this half light and he couldn't help the glimmer of his own half smile. He regretted disturbing her from some much needed sleep but she was positively... adorable in this state.

"I was..." He couldn't help but grin but tried to deny it by shaking his head, "I hope its alright. I couldn't sleep and I thought maybe we could talk about the Oracle and what she said? I had a dream..." He was about to mention that maybe he could come in the morning to make it easier for her and let her sleep but... He also didn't want to seem like a child coming to her for nightmares or anything. "Did you have a rough day?" He asked sincerely, if she was too tired he could come in the morning but he honestly didn't want the images of his dreams to fade too much before he could tell her. He nearly leaned forward to groom a stray chunk of her fur back in place but stopped when he remembered... Oh right... This is Queen Mercury. Probably not best to touch royalty and remind them of their state of dishevelment. It was... easy to forget this late at night.

ooc @Mercury

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes / lyrics © One Foot by Walk The Moon

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

"I was... I hope its alright. I couldn't sleep and I thought maybe we could talk about the Oracle and what she said? I had a dream..."

Ah. Arik's apparent draw to the isle was becoming stronger, it seemed.  He had been seen repetitively over the last few days fishing along the shore, or simply staring across the lake at it. For whatever reason, Arik would not make the swim.  Mercury wondered if their meeting with Mirai had shaken him more than he had let on. Sometimes dreams were just dreams, but sometimes they weren't.  It was never explained on how an Oracle received their visions, and dream prophecy was certainly in the realm of possibility.  If Arik was drawn to the moon shrine, there was a good possibility he may be an untapped Oracle.

"Did you have a rough day?"

He rocked forward slightly, then back, like he was fidgeting on the doorstep.   She stifled a yawn and itched an ear with her foreleg, unwittingly rearranging her ruff into... well... it was at least facing the correct direction now...

"Come in." She said gently, turning back into the darkness.

For a moment, in the blackness, there was the sound of rustling, then a crack, and a flame sprung to life near the back of the den. Atop a shelf of stones, a shell candle shed a subtle, but steady light.  Mercury grabbed a secondary pelt from the pile she had used for the Council, and dragged it open so that it extended her bed into more of a meeting room.  With a tilt of her head she indicated that Arik should take a seat, then she returned the warm space of her furs. She took a deep breath, then sighed it out her nose, trying to shake the grogginess of interrupted sleep so she could give him her full attention.

"What was your dream?"

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

Oh, through the wilderness, You and I we're walking through the emptiness
Oh, my heart is a mess, Is it the only defense against the wilderness?

actions - “speech” - thoughts

At her invitation he smoothly stepped forward into her den and pricked his ears at the sound of the crack of flint. He was mesmerized by the sudden spark and steady flame inside the seashell. He tilted his head watching it and didn't notice that she had pulled out a seat out for him until she grabbed his attention again about his dream. He had never before seen a candle like this but the ingenuity was definitely human. How did it work? How did it stay so tame instead of consuming everything around it? It was hard for him to peel his eyes away from it, it was quite entrancing.
"Yeah..." He said almost absently, seeing the seat she had pulled out for him. he settled on it, glancing at the candle. "What is that?" He asked curiously watching it. When she finished answering him he said "Huh." His curiosity sated he would be able to focus his attention to his original quest here.

"Right- my dream. Well..." He paused and looked down at the end of his nose, as if gathering his thoughts and the intangible pieces of his dreams from a few minutes ago, "I don't normally have dreams to be honest." He felt rather silly speaking about it, but he was here now and she seemed genuinely interested. Taking a deep breath he started, "It was bits and pieces. One was just strange eyes that glowed and a large sickle moon, the first phase after a dark moon, the phase that's just three days after." He had studied the phases of the moon religiously. He knew what phase was what and how regular the phases were and how many days it took the moon to complete a cycle. "Then there was something where the moon shifted through its phases quickly... I can't remember how many times or how many days exactly but it was at least twice but not quite all the way through the third cycle. Though... Since each cycle takes almost thirty days... and three cycles would have been ninety days then it was probably only..." He paused as he tried to calculate, it was large numbers but it wasn't the first time he was calculating phases and days together, "Maybe anywhere between sixty and eighty days? For some reason I feel like its significant." He had never really felt comfortable enough around someone to really use his voice this much. Was he talking too fast? Or too slowly? He didn't really know. Was she following? Was it significant? Was it just weird dreams? "I don't know, that honestly wasn't even the weirdest dream..." Maybe he should pause if she wanted to interject. Maybe she had an idea what these meant or further questions. Or maybe she'll just write them off as weird and nothing to worry about.

ooc @Mercury

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes / lyrics © One Foot by Walk The Moon

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

When Arik asked about the tiny, captured flame, Mercury patiently explained it for him. The use and construction of a candle had long been commonplace for Mercury.  Over the seasons she had spent with Kodiak and the team, living with humans, many inventions of man had lost their mystery.  It was easy to forget that the others, Arik included, were still pure, wild beasts.  Well, mostly.  They used packs and tools, things she realized Puffin and his dogs had taught them.  Did Puffin know about candles? There had not been time to ask him.  Taking the moment that Arik was transfixed by the flame, Mercury made a mental note to send one with the next messenger to the dog's mountain keep.

"Right- my dream. Well... I don't normally have dreams to be honest."

Mercury nodded to indicate that she had heard, but stayed silent to allow him to continue.

It was bits and pieces. One was just strange eyes that glowed and a large sickle moon, the first phase after a dark moon, the phase that's just three days after.Then there was something where the moon shifted through its phases quickly... I can't remember how many times or how many days exactly but it was at least twice but not quite all the way through the third cycle. Though... Since each cycle takes almost thirty days... and three cycles would have been ninety days then it was probably only... Maybe anywhere between sixty and eighty days? For some reason I feel like its significant. I don't know, that honestly wasn't even the weirdest dream..."

The Dark Queen's brows furrowed, and gained the sharp, steely expression that was more like her.  Her disheveled state seemed to be cloaked by the darkness around them, the cast shadows of the candle shaping her with hard shadows.  Clearly a passage of time... but for what?  A little over Two to Three months?  But when did it start?  Were they already in the phases?  Or were they to come?  Mercury had no knack for prophecy.  Had not, in fact, been the most faithful follower of Mother Moon much in her life.  But it was the religion of her bloodline, and as she took up the mantle again, she could feel the power here, in this place, in this pack.  Untapped... waiting.


"When was the last sickle moon?" She asked, trying to gauge the time.  But then, something else he said snagged her thoughts. "You had multiple dreams? In sequences?"

If Arik didn't usually dream, having one might be random.  Suddenly having an active REM subconscious was another.  Something was changing.

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

"All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."

actions - “speech” - thoughts

In the enchanting flicker of the candle he saw her expression harden with concentration. Ah! There was the Queenly Mercury in this half gloom. She asked when the last sickle moon was and without a moments hesitation he replied it was only a few days ago. Hanging above them was the growing half moon. In another few days it would be a large and bright gibbous, then the climax of the bright full moon in another week or so. He didn't understand why that was a question, though if he thought about it, why else would a sickle moon and strange glowing eyes be a part of a dream? He never knew of any story about glowing eyes.

Then she seemed surprised.
"You had multiple dreams? In sequences?" He blinked, not sure if he should be surprised. He didn't really dream much before.

"I mean, yes? I think so? It felt like I was only half asleep somehow. Everything was kind of jumbled and messy and nothing really made sense. Like I was running in one, it felt like I was actually running and out of breath looking for something or someone, I really don't know. And it was in those caves, the old ones that had the glowing plants and mushrooms and weird things on the walls? From our old territory. Somehow I dreamt I was running frantic through them searching. I came upon a lake, in the caves, it was like this black hole there wasn't any ripples and there was nothing but blackness but for some reason I just dove in, in my dream, and suddenly I wasn't swimming but floating, like I was floating in the night sky like a cloud or like a star among so many other stars! It was incredible! I was surrounded by stars, and below me... It was weird it was this white wolf, they... she? I don't know, I feel like it was a female but I couldn't smell or really tell, I just feel my self saying she... she was laying on her side below me, her eyes were closed like she was sleeping or... dead, or just her eyes where closed and she was surrounded by this darkness and this darkness rose up around her and it had these red and blue eyes like... An eye that was just..." He looked up at the candle... "Its eye was just fire, the other eye was like pure water, even falling from its eye like a waterfall... and it rose up and just... like I think it tried to eat me or scare me..." He had been talking animatedly, hurried, excited, moving his ears and bobbing his head and using his paws to describe as much as he could. He was still when he ended and blinked, he shifted from being embarrassed that he could even be so enthused about a weird dream and talking so much. Looking away for a brief moment and flicking his ear awkwardly, "then... I woke up..." he flicked his tail and would focus his eyes on a spot in front of him, quickly glancing up at Mercury every other second to gauge her reaction.

ooc

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

Arik gave her the date, but she wasn't sure if it was the correct one.  They had arrived in Nardir only a few days ago.  Had it been the Moon witnessing their arrival?  But the time of day was wrong.  She tried to calculate what the time could have meant, but her mind drew a blank.  It was possible the sickle moon was not the start at all, but the end.  Dream sequences weren't always sequential. Arik immediately confirmed that notion when he began to describe the sequence of dreams.

"I mean, yes? [...] then... I woke up..."

Mercury sat with her concentration face firmly glued on, staring off into nothing.  Dream visions were like untangling knots, and with one as disconnected as this... she couldn't make any sense of it. Fleeing the territory and coming home to Nardir could be what was represented in the second sequence.  Nardir's homeland was a glacial valley, and water was an ever-present theme here.  Why was it they did not pay as much homage to water?  Perhaps they should... The X Clan's element was the wind.  Was there a water clan among her people?

While his parents had not been particularly religious, Moon overcoming The Darkness was a common story in Nardir. Had it scared Arik to hear it as a child?  It was a rather personal question, and one she was not sure if she should ask.  But fire and water from his eyes?  More water... The elements had never been a part of the original story.  Was it a warning of yet another disaster? The Moon was sleeping? or... dead?  She looked out the opening of the cave, but the candle did not let her eyes adjust to see the moonlight.  The Moon slept during her new phase, according to the legend.  Perhaps she should make sure the pack was together on the new moon...

"What did it feel like it meant?" She asked, sounding silly even as she said it.  But perhaps there were other senses than what he saw. He had felt frantic while running through the glowing caves.  But he had been searching?  He didn't seem to know the focus on his search, but Mercury wondered if it was the Moon he was looking for.  But she didn't know.  Didn't know much about Arik at all, in fact.  Despite the crown and mantle, she was ill equipped to deal with these kinds of challenges.  She had to do better.

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

"All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."

actions - “speech” - thoughts

It felt like the silence was stretching out between them like a maw about to swallow Arik whole. Was she about to mock him? No her face seemed very serious. She was thinking hard about his dreams and all he could think of was whether or not she was taking him seriously. He didn't know if he could trust this feeling that she was.

And then she asked what he felt his dreams meant and right there it felt like a slap of fresh water in his face. She was more than taking him seriously, she was actually attributing meanings to his dreams. Like an Oracle would discern meanings from symbols and dreams and whatever else oracles actually did. He had only really guessed as much as he could.

He searched the ground as if he was looking for the meanings of his dreams in the flickering light on the cracks of the floor and in the shadows of their fur seats. The crescent moon and eyes meant something. Like something was coming, or to pay attention, or a signal of some sort. It felt more like a signal. The eyes literally opened in his dream. As if to say "open your eyes." pay attention.

"I think... I feel like the eyes and the crescent moon was like a signal. Like it was saying 'Pay attention.' It felt significant but other than that I don't know, maybe something is coming? But..." He shook his head and smacked his lips. They were dry.

"The sequence of the moon phases definitely felt like a time frame. A specific time frame that could be measured either by the moon or by days. But I can't for the life of me think what generally happens in almost eighty days. Thats both a long time and a relatively short time. It didn't feel like it fit with whatever else of was going on in my dreams or if it was really related. Maybe something important is coming in 80 days from tonight, or maybe we're in the middle of those days but that wouldn't make sense. I don't know... Nothing felt scary, not even when the darkness with teeth and strange eyes made to eat me. I was more surprised." He looked off to the side, looking out into the gloom of the outside world, but like Mercury the light of the moon was hidden by the fire blindness of the candle. He wasn't used to looking out of his den and not being able to see the world outside immediately. It looked... a lot like the water had looked before he dove in. Black, empty, hidden. He titled his head and his eyes started to adjust to the world outside again but it was much harder to see still.

He turned back to Mercury with an idea. "I don't think we're very good at this, what if... What if we went back to the Oracle? Isn't that what her job would be? To interpret dreams? I mean she could just say to wait it out... But... to be honest I'm very eager to see her again." The fact that the queen was there to see Mirai with him, and be the central figure of her own prophecy and actually take what felt like ramblings of a crazy wolf seriously... Let him trust her enough to admit that he was completely smitten by the isle and the information the big cat held. "I have this feeling I have to go back, that I was meant to be there. Do you know what she meant by your eclipse? What was your prophecy? If... you don't mind me asking..." He felt his tongue loosen the more he talked, the dam from brain to mouth had melted. He was full of questions, questions, questions.

ooc

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it." - Emilie Autumn

"I don't think we're very good at this, what if... What if we went back to the Oracle? Isn't that what her job would be? To interpret dreams? I mean she could just say to wait it out... But... to be honest I'm very eager to see her again"

She gave him a wry smile. "I suspected as much.  But you have a point. I admit that I am no interpreter of dreams."

Arik's excitement and agitation was making him uncharacteristically animated.  A flame had been lit inside him, and Mercury didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm with skepticism.  She had not given much thought to heeding the Oracle when she had been young.  She had been a wolf, a member of the pack.  But did all Oracles serve in a neutral capacity?  She was not sure.  But the idea that she knew more than the average soul was one Mercury was willing to entertain.  Perhaps she was meant to aid them...  Perhaps she was here so Arik could learn...

"I have this feeling I have to go back, that I was meant to be there. Do you know what she meant by your eclipse? What was your prophecy? If... you don't mind me asking..."

Mercury shook her head. "I have no notion of what eclipse she speaks." She admitted, "There was no prophecy for me.  Only for Alana."

Always for Alana, for the Bright Moon of Nardir.  The child who was more like their mother.  Kind, gentle, and pure.  Alana had shone brighter than she, and Mercury had become her shadow.  It was Alana that had their concern.  Alana who had her parent's attention.  Alana was supposed to be here.  But there was no Alana... Alana was gone.

"The Oracle foretold that Nardir would fall if Alana were to rule alone.  Kokutan, thought that giving me a crown would appease the prophecy.  But I think Alana was supposed to have taken a mate to be her Champion. Nardir fell because I was not enough."

Now she was all Nardir had.  This time, she had to be enough.

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

"All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."

actions - “speech” - thoughts

His heart leapt at her wry smile, he didn't know if it was a sense of panic that she was mocking him or something else. He looked away briefly but quickly brought his attention back flicking his ears at her admittance to not being an interpreter.

He tilted his head as she went on about her prophecy, about how it had only been for Alana...

"The Oracle foretold that Nardir would fall if Alana were to rule alone.  Kokutan, thought that giving me a crown would appease the prophecy.  But I think Alana was supposed to have taken a mate to be her Champion. Nardir fell because I was not enough."

Arik grew still, that strange tug he had come to recognize recently was pulling at him to speak up, not knowing what his words would be.
"... you were barely out of childhood..." He whispered, he knew the story. He himself was born in the following fortnight of The Fall. "How could she take a mate so young to steer The Fall away? No one could have seen The Demon coming. What if it wasn't about avoiding the Fall? What if the White Demon wasn't what the prophecy was even eluding to? Or it was and you were enough? What if..." He paused gathering his thoughts, this... yes this made more sense...

"No... that was The Fall... You were enough. Without you we wouldn't have had a Champion and Alana would have had to take on the White Demon herself... and she would have died. Without you she wouldn't have been able to lead Nardir find its way to rebuilding. Without you... we wouldn't be here today..."

He took a breath and felt drawn to meet her seafoam eyes with his emerald greens, "You were enough, Mercury."

ooc

Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

"... you were barely out of childhood..."

"I was Queen." Mercury hissed back, whirling up to pace away from him. "It was my duty to protect my people." To protect Alana. The implication hung between them.The darkness veiled her face, leaving her head bent in shadow.

"How could she take a mate so young to steer The Fall away? No one could have seen The Demon coming. What if it wasn't about avoiding the Fall? What if the White Demon wasn't what the prophecy was even eluding to? Or it was and you were enough? What if... No... that was The Fall... You were enough. Without you we wouldn't have had a Champion and Alana would have had to take on the White Demon herself... and she would have died. Without you she wouldn't have been able to lead Nardir find its way to rebuilding. Without you... we wouldn't be here today..."

She did not interrupt him while he scrambled over memories that were not his.  She'd gone through his train of thought.  Her own conclusion is that Alana should have been betrothed to another pack. Had she been intended for a prince of Inaria, or one of the other great packs, Mercury was certain that their might would have held the White Demon and his Asylum at bay.  Her uncle, no, her father, had been arrogant to think that two yearling daughters could stand alone in the world.  Her parents had been selfish to make them, some small bitter part of her thought.  

Yes, Alana would have had to face him, but Mercury did not ever believe that the warriors of Nardir would have let her sister fight. Had it not been she, how many would have survived the war?  How many more would be lost?  Would Arik even be standing here with her?  He, like all those born in exile, had known only the aftermath. Not the truth of what they lost. Stories, passed down by whispering ghosts. Tales told through twisted lenses of nostalgia, pain and loss. Even Akutan, who claimed to remember Nardir, had barely been out of the den.

It was true, she had been a child.  But she had been forged to be a warrior, a sword and shield to the Gentle Moon, and lived to be an instrument.  Even now, she took on the mantle of Queen without feeling herself worthy of it, because Alana had told her she could bear it no longer.  As she had done forever before, Mercury took the pain for her sister.

And where was Alana now?  There to share the pain?  No.  She had ran.  And yet how could Mercury deny her the chance?  She had been gone for seasons, locked away in a world she grew comfortable in.  Oh, at first she had tried to escape.  That had earned her punishment after punishment.  Then, she had been biding her time, intending to wait for the perfect opening.  And then... then the past had taken on the gauze of a dream, and the concrete of the here and now seemed enough.  It was only the barest chance she had even been back to Nardir to take her sister's place.  Mercury had arrived only just in time to see it fracture all again.

"You were enough, Mercury."

He tried to hold her gaze, and in this instance, it was the Dark Queen who looked away.

"I am simply all there is."

She walked back to her furs and sat heavily before her front legs folded and she gracelessly flopped onto her bed.  She avoided his gaze, and instead stared at the flame held captive inside the little seashell.  Mercury felt she must be most like the wick.  The flame was life, burning bright, but requiring her care.  The wax was the pack, and the seashell, the land.  The wax could be remolded, replenished.  The flame re-lit and re-fed.The seashell would remain to cradle it all. But she, this one wick, would be burned out in the end.  Yes, it was selfish of her parents to leave her so young.  But that same small, bitter part of her understood the why now.

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

"All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."

actions - “speech” - thoughts

Arik pinned his ears back in surprise and shame when she hissed and stalked away, visibly irritated.

There was obviously more to it, and he had to admit that it had all happened before him. All he knew was what he had been told and what he had been able to piece together.

"I am simply all there is." she said, flopping into her furs and gazing into the candle. He followed her gaze and noticed how the wick was low. It was almost morning somehow. They had been talking nearly all night. What a dunce he was! She had duties and packmates to meet and decrees to make! And the weight of her statement fell heavy on him as the words from the mysterious cat ran through his head again.

"You must aid her, Moon Shadow... Go. She will return, as will you."

He turned back to her, wondering how in the star dazzled sky he could possibly aid her. He was no leader, and he couldn't possibly entertain the idea that she would ever see him as a partner. Maybe at the very least he could always be there for her to trust, to vent to, to keep her weaknesses safe and just be her friend that she didn't need to order around or save face for. That's what they were doing here wasn't it? She certainly already felt comfortable enough with him to put off the weight of the crown for a while. He wasn't much a fighter but he already felt a pull to somehow take the weight off her, protect her, find way to make her life just a little easier. Her scars already told a story full of harshness and difficulty. He didn't think he had the kind of strength or will to fight physical battles. Though, yes, he was a full blood fringe dire, and among the tallest of the pack, he was lanky, a stalker, not built a tank like Kodiak or Byakko. There were other battles though, the ones that didn't need brute force. Those he could possibly shield her from or aid her with.

Her statement fell between them for a time as they both thought privately. He broke the silence quietly, earnest and sincere;
"Then whenever you need me, I will be there." It was a promise. The transition of leadership had been rough for many, and he didn't know if she had any packmates pledge true loyalty to her yet. Most of them were just following because they had felt abandoned by Alana and Julek, and her promise to bring them back to the lands of their ancestors. Which she had.

"You can vent and rant to me. I won't mind. If things get difficult you can call me or find me and we can talk." He didn't know at this time that he would suddenly be the one many of the pack members find to talk to. At this time though he wanted to make sure Mercury knew he would always make time for her. Leading a band of passionate and hungry wolves by yourself was a huge task, especially if you felt like you didn't have a true friend among them.

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Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes

[Mercury]

The Dark Moon Queen of Nardir                 ☿ "Being brave means to know something is scary, difficult, and dangerous, and doing it anyway, because the possibility of winning the fight is worth the chance of losing it. - Emilie Autumn

It couldn't be said for certain if it was comfort or just fatigue that made her drop her stoic facade, if not her formal speech.  She was tired, and Arik's assessment was right, he had kept her up.  But she understood his concerns.  She just wasn't able to alleviate them.  The night made her bitter, the lack of rest made her irate.  Mostly, she just felt strangled.  So much rode on her shoulders, from the welfare of the pack to the individual disagreements between it's members.  She was already dealing with Akutan's insubordination, how many more would show their fangs and their tempers before this was done?  Although she had not heard them say it, she could feel the unease and displeasure the X clan was feeling.  But she couldn't let them run wild, trampling the other families in their wake... Her mind drifted back to all the problems that had kept her from a good night's rest.  One that was now even less restful than she would have managed.  She had understood why Arik had come to her, but she did not want to discuss politics with him.  Perhaps she had been too loose with her tongue...

"Then whenever you need me, I will be there."

Mercury's head raised, not quite jerking upward, but with more speed than was perhaps comfortable.  Whatever she had expected Arik's reply to be, this had not been it.  He was a shy, quiet individual.  Was it the night?  Had the two of them shed their cloaks to reveal what lay beneath their masks?  And more over, would they don them again in the morning? She stared at him as he made his pronouncement, not sure that she had heard him correctly.

"You can vent and rant to me. I won't mind. If things get difficult you can call me or find me and we can talk."

"I..." She started, clearly taken-aback. "Thank you... Arik."

She meant it.  Beyond that, she was mostly at a loss for words.  She didn't know why she had decided to throw a temper tantrum in her head and worse, to vocalize it.  But Arik did not seem to be put off by her momentary lapse.  Instead, he had offered support.  It had surprised her, but it also did much to ease her mind.  She gave him a soft smile, a genuine one of Mercury the woman instead of the Dark Moon Queen. She wanted to offer the same, but it seemed unnecessary. After all, hadn't he already figured that out tonight?

☿

[Charley]

A r i k,

"All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."

actions - “speech” - thoughts

Arik blinked back at her, giving her his own gentle crease of his lips. He meant every word. With a glance at the candle, and then swinging his gaze back to the world outside, he nodded.

"I've kept you up long enough. I hope you get some rest before the world comes barreling in." He got up and stretched out, that bittersweet feeling of tired-and-ready-for-bed tingle ran up and down his legs. He made his way to the doorway and looked back for a moment. Gave her a sweet tired smile and made his way back to his den.

What he didn't see was peeking out of her own den a certain firepelted female watching his every move as she started getting ready for the second phase of the mission. She had just been outside to stretch and caught movement at Mercury's doorway, she bolted back to her den to watch who would emerge and was surprised to see the large male come down the ramp and make his way to his own quarters. Interesting...

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Photo © Spencer Arquimedes / coding © vixxie's codes